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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25494751">Raindrops Keep Falling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan'>ericsonclan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OG World [38]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, Rain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:40:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,664</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25494751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>On a particularly rainy day as the Ericson kids huddle together in the piano room for warmth, Clementine and Louis brave the outside to get some herbs in their quest for a hot meal.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OG World [38]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Raindrops Keep Falling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>(by Laura)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rainy days were the worst.</p><p>It had been raining for the entire day. They had woken up to rain, taken turns keeping watch in the rain and finished the daily chores to the best of their ability despite the downpour. Most of them had spent the majority of the day indoors, boarding up all the windows to prevent the wind from blowing more water inside the halls. They’d built up a fire in the music room’s fireplace, most of the kids holing up there when they didn’t have anywhere else they needed to be. It was miserably cold throughout most of the school, but they managed to keep it warm in there.</p><p>Ruby and Aasim had gone to check the traps in the morning and found all of them empty. There wasn’t any point in hunting either as all the animals were hiding from the rain. Luckily they’d dried some extra meat in the past few weeks, so they had something to tide them over, that was, if the rain didn’t go on too much longer. The group sat around the fire, chewing jerky and playing every card game Louis could come up with.</p><p>By dinnertime their stomachs were all growling again. Omar insisted that he wouldn’t allow them to suffer through another meal of solely jerky if he had anything to say about it. They could improvise a wood fire within the old kitchen. As long as they cracked open a few windows, the smoke created from one meal shouldn’t be too bad. All they needed from outside was the cast-iron pot and some fresh herbs from the greenhouse to bring the dried meat’s flavor out. Willy and A.J. volunteered to get the pot, with Aasim tagging along to make sure they stayed on task.          </p><p>“I can go get the herbs,” Clem volunteered eagerly.</p><p>Aasim looked unconvinced. “Are you sure? I mean, I know you’ve gotten really good on the prosthetic lately, but it’s super muddy out there,”</p><p>“Anything to get outside for a few minutes. Being in here since morning’s driving me a bit crazy. Plus it’s not like I don’t know the way,”</p><p>Louis rose up with a groan, dramatically bowing as he offered Clementine a hand up. “If my lady insists on getting out for some fresh air, who am I to say no? I’ll accompany you,”</p><p>“You really don’t have to. I know you just got dry from watch,”</p><p>“Alas, too true. But a few raindrops are a small price to pay to see you smile,”</p><p>Violet rolled her eyes. “God, you get more sappy every day, Louis,”</p><p>“Why, thank you! I do try my best,”</p><p>“Just get out of here before I have to gag you. Clem, do us all a favor and take him with you,”</p><p>“Alright then,” Clementine took Louis’ hand, making it upright with only the tiniest wobble. “To the greenhouse we go,”</p><p>---</p><p>They were surprised to see how bad the rain had gotten when they stepped out the front of the administrative building. The overhang did little to protect them from the rain as it fell down in showers before them, forcing them to squint to make out anything in front of them. In hindsight they should have known how bad the conditions were when Ruby had come in dripping wet from watch and announced that watch duties would be suspended until the rain let up. Still, there was nothing quite like seeing the storm in person to really put things into perspective.</p><p>“You sure you want to do this?” Louis shouted over the wind, cupping his hands around his mouth.</p><p>Clementine nodded. “It’ll be worth it to get a hot meal!”</p><p>Before she could say anything further, A.J. and Willy came barreling out the front doors, laughing wildly as they ran out into the rain. Aasim was close behind them, not looking nearly as happy. </p><p>“Slow down!” he called out, trying to sound authoritative. “Stay on task!”</p><p>Clementine turned back to Louis with a smile. “I guess we gotta go for it!”</p><p>“Wait!” Louis exclaimed. He quickly took his trenchcoat off, an action that surprised Clem until he draped the coat above his head, stepping behind her to draw her into the makeshift shelter. “OK, on three?”</p><p>Clementine felt her heart warm at the selfless gesture. She leaned up, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “On three,”</p><p>Louis glanced down in surprise, clearly flustered by the kiss. The same dorky grin that had crossed his face the night she’d confessed her feelings reemerged now. He nodded quickly, signaling he was ready.</p><p>“One, two… three!” With that they began their sprint across the yard. Well, it was really more of a brisk jog with Louis making sure not to outrun Clementine or pressure her from behind while Clementine did her utmost to not slip and fall in the mud. She had a couple close calls, one of which had Louis wrapping his arms around her to prevent the fall and dropping his coat in the process, getting them both momentarily soaked. They quickly righted themselves though, getting back on track to their destination.</p><p>They burst through the greenhouse door with uproarious laughter, taking a moment to catch their breath as they leaned against the nearest planters. As their laughter stilled, the sound of the rain came through. It was a much more peaceful sound when inside the greenhouse. The patter of the rain falling against the glass panes was comforting and they could see individual rivulets of rain making their way from the roof all the way down the sides of the greenhouse. Even the howling of the wind felt distant despite the stark chilliness inside.</p><p>Clementine involuntarily shivered and Louis immediately threw his coat over her shoulders, drawing it round her to try to fend off the cold.</p><p>“Lou, c’mon, that’s too much,” Clementine said, trying to shrug it off. “I’m fine, really!”</p><p>“Nu uh,” Louis shook his head, some droplets falling down from his dreadlocks. “You keep it for now. It looks cuter on you anyways,”</p><p>“I don’t know, you look pretty great in it too,” Clementine quipped.</p><p>Louis blushed at her words. He turned round quickly to survey the greenhouse. “So… what was it exactly that we needed?”</p><p>“I got this,” Clementine made her way among the planters, picking a few herbs here and there in various planters. “Omar tends to have his favorites. As long as we bring a wide selection back we should be fine,” They made their way amongst the aisles, tucking the herbs into the sleeves of Louis’ coat as they went along.</p><p>When they’d made a full circuit, Clementine offered Louis’ coat back to him.</p><p>Louis took it reluctantly. “Only for pseudo-umbrella purposes,” he said, tucking it under his arm.</p><p>With that, they were ready to face the storm once more. The first time Clementine tried to open the door it slammed back shut with the force of the wind, surprising both of them. Clementine planted her good foot, anchoring the other against Louis’ left side before gritting her teeth and trying again. This time they didn’t hesitate, leaping outside before the door unceremoniously slammed shut behind them. Louis tried to use the same trick with his trenchcoat as they’d done on the way there, but this time the wind was blowing the rain towards them instead of against their backs. They were forced to adopt a new plan: holding the trench coat in front of themselves instead of behind, they used it as a sort of shield, peeking out from underneath occasionally as they made their way back to the main building. It certainly wasn’t an easy or direct route they ended up taking, but finally they found themselves at the steps of Ericson.</p><p>Rushing inside, they stopped by the kitchen first to give Omar the herbs. He already had the water boiling over the makeshift fire and told them it would only be about 15 more minutes till dinner could be served. With the promise of a hard-won hot meal in their minds, they rejoined the others in the music room. A.J. was busy regaling the others with a story of a close call he and Clementine had a couple years back and how they’d gotten out of it. Louis and Clem took their places on the outer edge of the circle, leaning against the piano bench for support.</p><p>Louis looked at his trench coat rather sadly before laying it out beside him to dry in the fire’s glow.</p><p>“Too wet to wear?” Clementine asked with concern.</p><p>“Only for a while. It fought bravely out there against those stormy winds. It deserves a moment of rest and recovery,” Louis saluted his coat with a wry smile. </p><p>Clementine joined in with a grin. Looking over at Louis, she could see he was still shivering a bit. She was freezing too. Perhaps if they combined their warmth though… Silently she crawled forward, settling in front of Louis before leaning back to rest against his chest. She heard some nervous spluttering from behind her, but Louis didn’t protest. In fact, after a few moments his arms circled round her, drawing her closer. They basked in the warmth of the room and each other’s company, neither wanting to move at all for the rest of the night.</p><p>“Well,” Louis murmured, his mouth close to her ear. “Not a bad end to what could have been a very sucky day,”</p><p>“Every day is a good day when I’m with you,”</p><p>She could hear Louis happily chuckling behind her. “Careful. If we get too sappy, Vi might just gag the both of us,”</p><p>Clementine interlocked her fingers with Louis’, drawing his arms more tightly around her. “I’m willing to take that risk,”</p><p>And so the rest of the night passed in blissful peace, stories and stew being shared round the circle till all eyes grew heavy and surrendered to sleep.</p><p>Rainy days really were the best.</p>
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